Family
by PotterheadDemigodLamp
Summary: There was more to Percy and Annabeth than it meets the eye. That was obvious. But what if they had been keeping a secret for more than just a few years? One-shot.


Camp started normally. Annabeth had just finished her design on her mother's temple. Both she and Percy were 21 now, and they had decided to try to be warm and friendly to any newcomers, just as they formally were before their journey through Tartarus.

About a week after camp officially started, a new demigod crossed the boundary line. This was happening very frequently now, for after the defeat of Gaea, Percy was the only one who was granted a wish from the gods. He reinforced the promise that he had made the gods make after the Second Titan War: to recognize all demigods of all gods, whether the god was major or minor. The gods held true to their reinforced promise, and every day, whether the current residents of Camp Half-Blood liked it or not, at least 5-6 new demigods appeared at camp. But this demigod was special. Her name was Ashlyn Clark, and she was only 6 years old, but that wasn't what made her stand out form the rest of the demigods.

Her appearance was peculiar, not the don't-let-her-come-near-me-I-might-catch-her-ugliness kind, but the I-got-dibs-on-her-before-I-even-knew-her-name kind. She had blonde hair which just reached her back, and it was clear to everyone the moment she arrived that she was a daughter of Athena. She had already been claimed the moment she set foot into the Camp's boundaries.

The only unsolved mystery was that she had amazingly sea-green eyes. Athena children typically had Athena's eye and hair color, for they were literally born from her thoughts and she could in a crude way, control how her children looked like. The campers just assumed that Athena liked Ashlyn's father so much she decided to let Ashlyn keep her father's eye color. Her green eyes appeared to see through your soul when she stared at you. And when she glared at you, the effect was terrible. Her eyes seemed to wrench your soul from your body and throw it away straight into Tartarus. The campers knew only 4 demigods who could muster that kind of glare: Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Nico. In fact, if they thought about it, those green eyes could have easily belonged to-

"Percy…"

The camp chorused in unison. They turned to find Percy staring at Ashlyn in dismay, with Annabeth beside him, looking no happier. Disapproval was etched deeply in the lines of their weary faces, and they only stopped staring when they realized the campers were looking at them curiously.

"Come on, time for dinner," Annabeth tugged on Percy's elbow and muttered softly. Percy sat down heavily at Poseidon's table and scowled at the ground. Annabeth grabbed Ashlyn's hand and guided her to the Athena table. She talked to Ashlyn softly and warmly, just as a mother would do to a toddler. Food was served and after sacrificing to their respective godly parents, the campers gradually settled down to eat.

Dinner passed without any other incident and Percy and Annabeth ceased to appear angry or disappointed, though it was evident that they were both deep in thought. All was well until Percy wandered over to the Athena table. He had finished his dinner and wanted to talk to Annabeth privately. "Wise Girl…" he started, but trailed off when Annabeth gestured for him to shut up. It was then that he noticed that Ashlyn had fallen asleep in Annabeth's arms. The toddler had decided that the food was uninteresting and taken more interest in Annabeth's Camp Half-Blood shirt. Percy plopped down on Ashlyn's recently vacated seat and cracked a grin at her sleeping form. Both Annabeth and Percy did not realize how that looked like until an Aphrodite camper, who had noticed it, called out, "Aww… they're just like a little family!" That caught the attention of all the campers, even Chiron and Mr. D. They could see the Aphrodite camper's point. With her blonde hair and sea-green eyes, Ashlyn looked exactly like a mix of both Percy and Annabeth and like what Percy and Annabeth's children would be if they ever had any. Annabeth and Percy blushed interesting shades of red and they both looked down into their laps.

"Come on, let's put her in Cabin 6," whispered Annabeth. With that, the two famous demigods stood up and walked over to Cabin 6. As Annabeth was getting stiff from holding Ashlyn for so long, she passed her over to Percy, careful to not jostle Ashlyn too much in the process and wake her up. The campers all cooed at this gesture and catcalls and wolf-whistles were heard, but Percy and Annabeth merely rolled their eyes as they walked back to Cabin 6. 

"I still don't believe it. It can't be possible!" Annabeth fumed. Once they were out of earshot of the other campers, Percy and Annabeth had dropped their cheerful demeanor at once. Percy sighed. "It _is_ possible Annabeth. Look, the proof is right in front of us now." While Percy tucked Ashlyn into bed, Annabeth stayed outside, staring off into the distance. Soon, Percy came out, and they stayed outside for a moment, mulling over their thoughts. "But if two gods had a kid, wouldn't the kid be a god too? And what about the rivalry? It's not a simple feud, for Hades' sake, it's a _centuries-old_ rivalry!"

"I don't know, maybe…" Percy was searching for an answer desperately. "She's not a thought child, that's for sure," Annabeth continued. At Percy's confused look, she explained, "Look, you could tell she was a daughter of Poseidon at one glance, right? Well, that's the same for me. I could tell straight away that she was a daughter of Athena, yet she wasn't a thought child, like the rest of us. I don't know why my siblings haven't noticed anything yet…" Percy was silent for a moment, trying to comprehend the sudden onslaught of information. He quickly gave up, trying not to think about Athena and his father…

"Come on, there's no point trying to figure out why the gods did what they did. Let's just go back before the Aphrodite campers get ideas." Accepting Percy's outstretched hand, Annabeth followed Percy back to Athena's table to rejoin Annabeth's siblings, unaware that all the other campers were trying to find out what they were doing.

After that night, there were many rumours flying about, curtesy of the Aphrodite campers. There were wild theories that some campers suspected, and bets were made in accordance.

"Do they seriously think that we are deaf _and_ blind? We are still normal people! Do you know what crazy rumours they are coming up with? They're saying that Ashlyn is our daughter! We weren't even dating 6 years ago! We were only 15!" Percy was annoyed. He was complaining loudly to Annabeth, who was sitting beside him. They were at the beach, and they were enjoying the sunset. "Well," said Annabeth carefully, "They seem to think that Ashlyn is actually only 3 years old, and that we used some magic speed-up growing potion to make her grow extra fast." Percy snorted in derision and rolled his eyes. Annabeth placed her hand on Percy's shoulder, effectively calming him down. Nowadays, only Annabeth could do that without getting hurt.

As it was after curfew already, Percy and Annabeth decided to go back to sleep. They walked back to the cabins and were preparing to wish each other good night when Percy brought up the subject which they had been fighting over the past few days. "It's my turn," he proclaimed loudly. Too loudly, in fact. Most of the campers were light sleepers, and they woke up immediately. Lights flickered on in the cabins and the campers woke up their various sleeping siblings. In other words, the whole camp was awake except for Chiron, Mr. D, Ashlyn and the Hypnos cabin. The campers all peered out of the windows apprehensively, for they were sure the famous demigod couple were going to fight yet again.

Annabeth sighed loudly and said, "No, Ashlyn's sleeping in my cabin tonight," "But she's been sleeping in your cabin for the past few days. She also belongs to me, you know," Percy griped. "Athena claimed her! If Poseidon claimed her too, then maybe she could sleep at your cabins for a few days!" Grey eyes met green, and the couple tried to stare down each other. "Fine, but once Poseidon claims her she gets to sleep in my cabin. We'll take turns, she will sleep in a different cabin every week." "But won't that be suspicious?" asked Annabeth worriedly. "We are supposed to tell the camp tomorrow about Ashlyn's real parentage anyway," reminded Percy, "Come on, let's just go to sleep." 

Everyone was confused. What did Percy and Annabeth mean by Ashlyn's real parentage? Wasn't Athena her real godly parent? Unless… Slowly, all the campers were gradually coming to the same conclusion: Ashlyn's real parents were _Percy_ and _Annabeth_ , and Poseidon and Athena were merely claiming their grandchildren. They waited excitedly for the moment of truth to see if their theory was correct.

Finally, at campfire that night, after the usual songs, Percy stood up hesitantly and said, "Um… Guys, we have something to tell you… The Athena kids may have guessed, but Ashlyn… Well, Athena isn't her only godly parent. Her other godly parent is Poseidon. We don't know why she isn't a god too, considering that she isn't a 'thought child'." Percy's finger sketched imaginary quotation marks at the 'thought child'.

A long silence followed this strange proclamation. Then there was an uproar. Everyone was shouting above one another, wanting to let himself be heard. The questions were mostly directly at Percy and Annabeth. The camp was absolute chaos for a few moments, until Chiron finally roared, "SILENCE! I understand that this is very confusing, but it is almost past curfew. Campers, to bed! Percy, Annabeth come with me, and bring Ashlyn with you."

Percy and Annabeth exchanged looks. This couldn't be good…

Back in the Big House, Chiron grabbed a convenient packet of Snausages off the table and carefully fed them to Seymour the leopard head on the wall. Then he sighed and turned around.

"Any reason why you did not bother to enlighten the Camp on this _information_ earlier?"

The two demigods, who had made a small detour to get Ashlyn from the Athena cabin earlier, did not dare to meet Chiron's eyes. They gave the reason that the gods had wanted them to keep it a secret earlier, which _was_ partly true, as Poseidon and Athena had begged them to keep mum about it. Athena was worried and embarrassed that she had broken her vow and Poseidon was just scared that Amphitrite would find out.

"So… We'll just… go?" asked Annabeth nervously, for Chiron was staring into space quite deeply. Percy looked deeply relieved and nodded in agreement. They left, heading back to their cabins. Annabeth brought Ashlyn back into the Athena cabin and tucked her in, ignoring the all-too-obvious signs that her other siblings wanted to know what happened in the Big House. She signaled for them to wait, and rejoined Percy outside the cabin.

"What happens if they get married?" mused Annabeth, "Then we will be siblings, right?" "Ew," responded Percy with a grimace, "Well, we'll just have to get married before them." "Who said anything about marrying you, Seaweed Brain?" challenged Annabeth jokingly. Percy simply stuck his tongue out at her like the mature adult he was. Then his expression turned serious as they both looked back towards the Athena cabin. Annabeth guessed correctly that he was worrying about Ashlyn and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be all right," she said softly.

Percy smiled absently

"I know she will," he turned away, staring into the distance, "If she comes to harm, they will have to answer us."


End file.
